Parashat Mishpatim

Immediately following the Revelation of the Ten Commandments in all their elegant simplicity in Parashat Yitro, we turn in Parashat Mishpatim to a long and involved list of laws and statutes encompassing a whole range of topics. In this variety of subjects there are regulations regarding slaves, laws on damages, as well as mention of the Shabbat and festivals and even reference to kashrut. All these laws are collected together seemingly without any order. In the midst of all these laws, one stands out because it appears twice in the text. In Exodus 22:20 we read, “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” And in Exodus 23:9 it is written, You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” Twice: You shall not oppress the stranger, “because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” This same phrase appears two more times in the Torah. In Leviticus 19:34, “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt…”, and then in Deuteronomy 10:19, “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” We were commanded to behave in an honest and loving manner towards the stranger because we knew “the feelings of the stranger” (literally “the soul of the stranger”), having been in his place.

Regarding Exodus 22:20, Rashi comments, “You shall not wrong – this means by deceptive words. Or oppress him – this suggests stealing money.” And the commentary, the Sefer Temimah notes, “You shall not wrong – Our rabbis taught one who defrauds the Ger [the stranger who lives among us] transgresses three negative commandments, namely: “You shall not wrong…” (Ex. 22:20); “”When a stranger resides with you in your land, you may not wrong him” (Lev. 20:33); and “Do not wrong one another…” (Lev. 25:17). And a Ger is certainly one of us.”

And there is another very nice commentary from the Me’am Lo’ez on this verse based on a comment from Nachmanides, “God said, ‘Do not feel so sure that you can escape punishment when you mistreat a Ger who has no defenders. You yourself saw that you were strangers in Egypt, downtrodden to the very dust. I Myself came and rescued you, taking vengeance against those who subjugated you. This shows that I am concerned with the one who is oppressed. I see his tears and rescue him, punishing his oppressor. You should learn a lesson from this. Learn from what happened to you; this will teach you how to behave toward others.’”

1) Of all the laws in Mishpatim, why do you suppose that we are commanded twice concerning the stranger who dwells among us?

2) Why is it so important that we remember that “you were strangers in the land of Egypt”?

3) If God doesn’t “take vengeance against those who are subjugated,” who will assume that role?